Home
by Judgement-of-Jashin
Summary: Sasuke had lost his home and his heart long ago; could a return to Konoha help him to belong again. This is terrible, I'm sorry... SasuNaru fluff/friendship


Home is where the heart is. But where do you call home when your heart was dead and buried?

For years, Sasuke Uchiha had pondered this question, wondering what implications the answer had upon him. His home, the one and only home he had ever had, had been with his beloved family. But after the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke's heart had been buried with the remnants of his home. It tore the poor boy apart, and he had nothing left to live for; had no love left in his blackened soul.

The abyss in his chest where his heart once resided could not be quelled, no matter how hard he tried to placate the hunger within him with friends and false joy. So he turned to hatred and rage to soothe himself, and this turned to the desire to avenge those he loved. Soon enough, this purpose he had given himself allowed him to sleep at night, and fought the loneliness back, because it was something to occupy his fragile mind.

Sasuke convinced himself that revenge was all he wanted, and betrayed those who loved him most. He ran away to Orochimaru, and after many years, he finally got his vengeance. He killed his older brother and his clan had been avenged. But instead of the peace he had expected it to bring, it brought him only anguish, despair; an emptiness that was unparalleled. Countless times, Sasuke had almost ended his life, simply because he no longer belonged in this world. And each and every time, something had prevented him, some unseen force that urged him to endure his tortured existence for a little while longer.

So once again, Sasuke turned to the destruction of others for comfort, but as he slowly lost his mind, he innately knew that he would never gain peace from this life. Not whilst his heart lay dead in his chest and he did not have a place to call his home.

To not belong seemed like a laughable excuse to some of the allies he picked up along the way, but it was an agony he could not bear. He didn't belong anywhere, he drifted along without a purpose, without something to fight for. He was without a cause, fighting simply because he knew no other way to live. To know that he had no one to love and no one to love him back, to know that he could die tomorrow and no one would care because he was a rogue, tore him up inside. It was a lonely existence, and one he blamed on everyone but himself.

And that's where _he_ came in. When Sasuke returned to Konoha, the place he had once called home, cold and without emotion, _he_ had been there, waiting for him like a bad penny that just kept popping up.

His old 'friends' had all greeted him with threats of death and pain; some had even attempted to carry out these threats. But he had stood there, unmoving, unspeaking, his arms outstretched in an omnibenevolent stance, his blonde hair failing to cover the tears in his cerulean eyes. _Naruto Uzumaki._

At first Sasuke was enraged at his old friend. How dare he stand there, high and mighty, pretending he was better than Sasuke? Naruto hadn't been through the pain that Sasuke had been through. He didn't understand.

But he did understand, and Sasuke realised what a fool he was being. Naruto knew exactly how Sasuke felt, because he'd been through it too, and had still remained good and true to his friends and himself. And still he did not hate Sasuke for being so weak. He was willing to forgive the foolish relict from the past.

Cautiously, numbly, Sasuke moved towards his old friend, unable to care about the abuse hurled at him by his old comrades. Nothing else but Naruto mattered. He stopped before Naruto, his features contorted with the pain of too many years. "Forgive me, my friend." He whispered as tears spilled over his pallid cheeks. His knees buckled and he fell, but was caught in the warm embrace of Naruto. "You're forgiven." Naruto mumbled back, holding Sasuke up tightly and sobbing into his hair.

All at once, all the pain of the years lifted from him. His heart which had stood still in the cavern of his chest began to beat once more. He was at peace. And Sasuke finally had a home. Sasuke had a home in Naruto.

* * *

_I apologise for how terrible this is, but plot bunnies were fornicating in my mind and I had to put the baby somewhere. So I don't expect anyone to like it, but if you feel like writing me a review, even if it's just to tell me how terrible this is, feel free :3 Sorry I wasted your time with this. Thank you 3 xxx_


End file.
